Chapter 36

“…I’m scared.”

“Huh? Of what?”

“That one day you’ll just disappear. That you’ll leave my side, forever.”

*

036

Stain (Middle)

*

The usually solemn Inquisition Temple was filled with the clatter of footsteps. The sound of iron and marble colliding, the clanking of cumbersome armor creating a metallic dissonance.

Yet, despite breaking an unspoken taboo, they were not stopped. The Religious Order, though rigid, was not so inflexible as to lack adaptability in crucial moments.

And so, Anne and Verdo ran.

The sacred tools had to be fetched separately from the acolytes.

By the time they reached the entrance of the Reformatory, everything was ready. The mace that guides with righteous light and the sword that burns noble blood. Each holding their sacred tools, they entered the Reformatory.

“…It’s quiet.”

The white space that greeted them was as silent as ever.

To the untrained eye, it might seem like a white horizon, but to those blessed with divine sight, the true essence of the landscape was revealed. Countless corridors stretched like spiderwebs, a vast labyrinth without markers or traces.

Moreover, the labyrinth writhed and shifted as if alive, changing its structure. Thus, even if a heretic had torn through the sacred barrier, they would still be trapped within.

“I’ll go in first.”

Verdo glanced at Anne beside him. Though his helmet obscured his expression, his voice was stiff and tense.

…Is he nervous? Why?

She was no longer a rookie on her first trial.

“Got it. I’ll follow.”

But Verdo nodded obediently. He knew Anne was no longer the naive junior he needed to look after. In fact, she was a more skilled and capable warrior than he was.

His joints still ached, but he had no time to dwell on it. Setting aside all personal feelings for the sake of duty, Verdo raised his sword and followed his junior.

Though the labyrinth was complex and intricate, there was no fear of getting lost in a space touched by Ailim’s breath. Above all, a chilling, sticky sensation running down their spines called to them.

Fear, physiological rejection, rising disgust… Instead of fleeing in response to their emotions, they ran toward the source, as if drawn against their will.

That was their mission.

“Found it.”

“…Yeah, I see it.”

Soon, they finally encountered “it.”

The cell meant to imprison heretics. Yet, the silver bars, once neatly spaced, were now cleanly severed as if by a master swordsman.

But the cell’s occupant showed no intention of leaving, even with the exit open. Whether due to the faint remnants of the sacred barrier or some other reason, the figure remained self-imprisoned. Sensing their presence, it raised its head.

At first glance, it appeared as a massive black mass, the size of a human body. But as the flowing, clay-like form took shape…

=Grrr…=

Fox ears pricked up, a wolf’s snout jutted out, and a wolf’s yellow pupils widened. Bear muscles, tiger fangs, and leopard claws stacked densely.

What had been curled up like a ball now unfurled, as if being reborn. From the egg of sin, a being embodying all the vices of beasts emerged.

“Phew.”

Yet, despite the sight of this essence of violence and savagery, Anne sighed in relief.

Verdo smirked bitterly behind her. Facing the pinnacle of heresy, he could only guess why his sister felt at ease.

At least the heretic’s form was familiar. They had already defeated and imprisoned it once, and they knew its human form.

…But sister, has your noble heart dulled to this extent?

Verdo’s regret, like Anne’s relief, was an emotion ill-suited for facing a heretic. Swallowing it, he swung his sword with a flippant attitude unbecoming of an Inquisition Judge.

“You know, we can’t kill it.”

“…Of course.”

Anne’s response was delayed, as if lost in thought, but Verdo didn’t mind. Blood streaked through the gaps in his armor, and his sword, tasting blood, ignited with holy fire.

Stimulated by the scent of blood, or perhaps finally ready to face its adversaries, the beast rose with the leisurely demeanor of an apex predator.

=Gaaaaah!=

A roar as if hundreds of beasts howled, thousands of insects buzzed, and tens of thousands of people wailed.

An ordinary person would have bled from their ears and fainted, but they were superhumans who had accepted the Holy Body. A fiery sword and a light-filled mace struck simultaneously.

The massive beast, nearly filling the corridor, screamed as it retreated from the attacks of these seemingly insignificant humans.

“Lucky, huh.”

Anne’s voice trembled slightly, unable to hide her emotions even before the heretic.

But her strike with the mace was anything but hesitant. Though lacking in martial finesse, her divinely favored strength sent the massive beast flying.

No hesitation, no restraint. The mace carried pure hostility and ruthless coldness.

The darkness composing the beast’s body exploded from the impact, and the mace’s radiance erased even the fragments.

“Hmph.”

As the heretic staggered from the absurdly powerful strike, Verdo stepped in to cover her. A searing line connected two points.

Screech. Another scar marked the heretic’s massive body. Though it paled compared to Anne’s feat, the holy fire clinging to the blood neither extinguished nor allowed regeneration.

The beast roared wildly, biting and slashing, but it couldn’t touch them. Even if it did, the superhuman bodies and the sacred armor forged from the noblest metals easily deflected the attacks.

Anne deliberately offered her shoulder. The beast bit down but couldn’t pierce the armor, and Anne swung her other arm to smash the heretic’s head.

Crack!

With a crisp sound, the beast’s neck snapped comically. A monster that could overwhelm an army of a hundred was being toyed with by just two.

There were several reasons. They were specialists in anti-heresy combat. Their physical abilities surpassed even the heretic’s, and their weapons negated its greatest weapon: regeneration.

Moreover, this was a place imbued with Ailim’s power. The heretic’s strength was weakened, and there were no other “lambs” it could corrupt. Since being crowned, Laube’s mind had been filled with a dark desire to lead others to ruin.

But such temptations didn’t work on the Order’s shepherds.

“I’ll finish it.”

Anne declared, raising her mace, Polaris, which shone like the North Star.

The battle had become less of a fight and more of a repetitive mining operation. They chipped away at the bloated body, over and over. Though it struggled to regenerate, it couldn’t overcome the holy light Anne emitted or the holy fire Verdo spread.

The entire space was bathed in purifying light. Every breath of air, every ray of light was poison to the heretic. The further it strayed from humanity, the greater the backlash. The heretic must have been in excruciating pain at this moment.

If it still had enough reason to feel pain.

“Don’t kill it!”

“I know, no need to emphasize.”

The sacred tool, Polaris, responded to its master’s will, shining brilliantly. Holding a star descended to earth, Anne leaped into the darkness below without a trace of fear.

As the beast swung its forelimbs, each moment transformed into thousands of vices. The claws of a beast, the hands of a murderer, the noose of a suicide, the key of a thief—

—All of it scattered before the radiant star.

=Aaaaah■■■■!=

The scream rose to a pitch beyond human hearing. Even the Inquisition Judges’ eardrums tore, blood streaming from their ears, but Anne didn’t falter, signaling to Verdo.

And Verdo lived up to her expectations. Though less attuned to the Holy Body than Anne, he was still an Inquisition Judge. His will and sense of duty were unwavering. Perhaps even more so now, as Anne’s conviction had faded.

Though not a single clean hit had landed, he was already bloodied. His self-inflicted scars crisscrossed his body, but the holy fire in his hand burned brilliantly.

“…Brother.”

Not all lives weigh equally. The scales of justice sometimes close their eyes.

Though little more than a puppet, the emperor’s son. The noble blood couldn’t be executed without backlash from the imperial family and nobles. Thus, the Order imprisoned Joseph but never killed him.

Countless heretics were denied such mercy. But for him, it was granted. Time and time again, and it would be so in the future.

“Come back now.”

Exploiting the opening Anne created, Verdo’s sword pierced the heretic’s “heart.”

The holy fire exploded from within. Blazing flames swept through, forcing even the Inquisition Judges to grimace. But Verdo didn’t release his grip, twisting the sword to the hilt.

Crack. The blade hit something hard and slid. It didn’t pierce through. It wasn’t meant to.

This was enough.

=Ah, aaaaah…=

The holy fire spread, burning away the darkness. But as the flames subsided, what remained was not ash but a single figure.

A man, eyes closed as if asleep, stripped of all that proved his humanity.